Fatigue is now starting to set in at Wolves which was inevitable given the size of the squad – and journalist Liam Keen made a concerning revelation about one player after the defeat to West Ham United.
Gary O’Neil recently aired his frustrations about the size of the squad, stating that he had expressed his concerns to the Wolves board.
Wolves came into the current season with a fairly small squad. That squad got even smaller in January, with Jonny Castro Otto, Sasa Kalajdzic, Fabio Silva and Joe Hodge all departing.
Injuries to key players like Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-chan and Pedro Neto have really stung Wolves, and O’Neil has been forced to use the likes of Leon Chiwome, Nathan Fraser and Tawanda Chirewa at times recently.
The situation is really frustrating, because Wolves still have hope of securing European football.
But it’s very possible that they will run out of steam.
You can see that a lot of players are beginning to tire, and journalist Liam Keen made a slightly worrying revelation on the latest E&S podcast…
Mario Lemina could barely stand up to be interviewed after Wolves’ defeat to West Ham
Mario Lemina has been an absolutely key player this season for Wolves.
The Gabon international is a driving force in the midfield, and for many supporters is the player of the season so far at Molineux.
But just recently, he has started to drop off a bit and that is no real surprise. Only three players – Jose Sa, Max Kilman and Nelson Semedo have played more minutes in the Premier League than him (via WhoScored).
Andy Thompson suggested after the game that he had been looking ‘a little jaded’ recently, and now, journalist Keen has put it into perspective just how spent the 30-year-old is right now.
He said on the E&S podcast: “The players are knackered. I interviewed Mario after the game, he had to lean up against a wall to talk to me – he couldn’t even stand up straight.
“I then saw his Instagram the following day that he was recovering at home sat with these things around his legs, trying to recover the best way he can. These players are out on their feet.
Lemina needs a rest
Lemina is an incredible athlete but there is a real danger here of losing him to injury.
He has been playing a lot of football and obviously with the type of player that he is, he gets through a lot of running.
Ideally, he would be rotated out of the team and given a chance to rest up a bit. But O’Neil simply cannot do that due to a lack of numbers and lack of quality to replace him.
It’s hard to see him being rested at any point between now and the end of the season, and Wolves fans will just hope that he doesn’t overdo it and put himself on the sidelines with an injury. Losing him for any period of time would be an absolute hammer blow.